Second Chances
by falcokira
Summary: Listen, I know I was a real shitty person before I died and I probably deserved what was coming to me... but did I really have to be reborn into a game? I mean come on, this isn't some weird fanfic. What am I supposed to do here, change the future? I wouldn't even know where to start. I can resist the urge to change things. Besides, it's not like this is some sort of test... right?
1. Purgatory?

Death felt weird. Not in a peaceful way or 'I'm going straight to hell' way, but in a awkward silence type of way. Most would expect to hear angels singing, or satanic laughter in the distance as they're pulled one way or another. For myself I seemed to be… stuck, for lack of a better word. Not really sure which ending I would have preferred, but I think I would like anything better than my current situation.

I only wish everything was dark, in this giant expanse I seemed to float around in. Everything was bright white, like an overbearing bright pen light being shined into my corneas. My own hands were barely visible in front of my face when I waved them about. Every once in a while bursts of bright green or blue would drift by by, but it only added to the assault on my eyes. Kind of exaggerating a bit, but I don't know how else to describe it. At least closing my eyes seemed to lessen the brightness a bit, though not shut it out completely. I couldn't even tell you how long I've been floating here. Really, it could have been hours or days for all I know. But for the sake of my own sanity, I want to believe it's only been a few hours opposed to... however long it's been.

Back to the whole death thing: yes I know I'm dead. It was just a bad case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Said case just happened to involve an armed robbery with certain people I'd rather not think about right now. Let's just say that we go way back... But the end result was the death of Ashton Payne, which is me by the way. Having my life cut short was unexpected, but that's what happens sometimes. I know I sound pretty calm for someone who just died but it's not like I can do anything about it. I guess the shock just hasn't fully set in yet because I felt oddly at peace.

For now all I can do is float here, lost among my own thoughts.

* * *

I felt the pull before everything started to go dark. It was like someone was gently tugging on my hand, trying to get me to follow them to wherever it was they wanted to lead me. Whatever this weird force was I opted to let it take me where it wanted. It wasn't like I could really walk, or float in this case, on my own. Or resist it at all.

I was more grateful when the brightness started to dim around me until everything was black. Only myself and the random flashes of blue and green were still visible at that point. It felt like only a few moments had passed before I began to notice something else. It was a small but bright ball of red light hovering only a few yards in front of me, and it was moving _towards_ me at a slow and steady pace. It seemed to stand out thanks to the darkness around me, giving it the appearance that it was glowing. When it was no more then a foot away from me, I reached out and took it to examine it better.

The object was more like a small glass ball, but not quite like glass at all. It felt slightly warm to the touch and smooth. Though it was opaque it looked as if a thick red mist was swirling around inside of it. The most noticeable thing was the glow it emitted. It was pulsating slowly at a steady rhythm. However the glow had started to fade the longer I held it. I couldn't bring myself to let go of it as the color faded. It was oddly comforting in a way. I held it for what felt like hours, until the light the orb admitted finally pulsed one more time before turned a dull gray color.

A large crack split down the middle of the orb once the light was gone. As soon as the crack had appeared I noticed two things had happened. First, the blue and green light that was previously here faded away until it was completely dark. Experimentally I waved my hand holding the orb in front of my face. I could barely make it out in the surrounding darkness. Second, I started to feel an increasing pressure on my body. It started off light at first, like being wrapped up in a blanket. Heat started to envelope me as the pressure increased until I felt like I was inside as mini oven or something.

Saying it was uncomfortable would be an understatement. However considering the space I was in there wasn't much I could do about it, except scream.

* * *

 **Thanks for checking out the prologue! This story was partially inspired by the show,** _The Good Place._ **It gave my an interesting idea of what can come after death and thus, this story happened. The next two or three chapters will be pretty short, but will be out soon!**

 **12/24/18**


	2. Of All the Places

**Sorry this is kind of short, working on my own etsy store and got busy.**

 **Rated T for language, I don't own Final Fantasy VII.**

* * *

Cold washed over my body like a wave. It felt like I was submerged underwater but, I could breathe just fine? My body did feel damp but enveloped in warmth at the same time? How does that even work? Oh forget how it happened, I just wanted out of whatever situation I wound up in. Something happened before I could think anymore about it.

The next thing I knew however, it felt like I was being crushed. It started at my head and slowly spread down the rest of my body. I tried to move but my body just, wouldn't. Even just trying to move a finger felt difficult. I couldn't feel any individual part of my body, just the crushing pressure that was surrounding it. My chest began to burn, it felt strained and was growing stronger by the second. It was like trying to hold your breath underwater, and fighting the urge to resurface for air. The longer you stayed down, the stronger the burn grew. What the _fuck_ was happening to me? Was I actually drowning?

My mind felt overloaded as the pain moved down, and the lack of oxygen increased. It felt as if I might pass out at any moment. Anything would have been welcome at this point. Even getting shot a few times in the chest, again. I might have even stooped to begging if everything would just... stop.

A sharp pain hit me, but i couldn't tell from where. Did someone slap me?

A second one, this time harder. I started to cry out, more like I wanted to yell at them. Before I could do anything, the rush of sweet, sweet, oxygen hit me. I inhaled it greedily, gasping and coughing as I took it in. A soothing hang rubbed at my back a bit. At least I think it was a hand? It felt larger then normal, _much_ larger then normal. Warmth surrounded me before I felt myself being moved and cradled. I'm a grown adult, who could possibly be cradling me?

Opening my eyes was more of a challenge than expected. After this oh so daring feat, I was greeted by darkness. Well not _complete_ darkness, there were smudges here and there but it was still pretty dark. I couldn't understand the sounds going on around me. My confusion only grew as I tried to move and found I struggled with that too! Couldn't see, couldn't hear, and now I couldn't move right either?

What kind of situation did I get myself into?

* * *

It took a long time, or at least what felt like a long time before I could finally start to see things. Well most things at least. My range of vision was very limited at first but steadily increased over time. My hearing had managed to clear up soon after the first time I woke up. That first time was about four months ago. The last thing I would expect to happen to me was to be reborn as a baby. A _baby_. I can say it was nothing like reading fiction made it seem like.

Living in a child's body with an adult brain was the worst experience imaginable. I was always hungry, always tired, always in need of a fresh diaper, and always grumpy. I cried a lot, at most times, I didn't even know what I wanted. I had no real idea of exactly how much time passed the following months, unless I heard someone gushing over how cute I was. I hated every second of it, and dreaded when I would hit puberty... again. Being unable to do anything for myself made me unbelievably frustrated, and in turn made me a fussy baby. I bet my new family were going to be worn out when I hit my terrible two's. Speaking of my family...

They were pretty decent people. In the few months I've been with them I learned a handful of things. My new father's name is Derek, and my new mother's name is Aster. I had a brother named Xander, that was a couple years older then me. Around six or seven I believe, but he didn't really come by to see his new sister that often. Not that I blame him, watching me was pretty boring. One thing they did differently in my new home, was not immediately have a name ready within the first week or so of the baby's birth. They wanted to wait a few weeks to see what I was like before naming me. I was a month old when they finally gave me my name. If this is a common thing here, it's kind of weird. I wonder if everyone did this or if I was a special case. Or maybe it was an old ancient custom they just wanted to try out.

They ended up naming me Thorne, it was a odd choice but not terrible, however I still didn't know what my last name was. If I had to guess, I was given that name probably because of how terrible I was during that first month. If I had a name like that in my previous life, I have no doubt people would have thought me in a gang or something. From what I could see Xander took after my new mom with his hair black hair and brown eyes. I haven't seen my new look, but I've been told I look like my new dad. Going based on his looks, that must mean I have the same light hazel eyes. Derek's hair was black with hints of red here and there. In the light it looked like it was completely red. It was pretty nice, and I hoped my hair would look like his too. Each of then had dark skin, so I could at least assume I did too. At least that part of me hasn't changed.

I learned my parents were some of the village healers. They, and all the other healers here, relied most on basic knowledge of plants to help people. In other words, they were herbalists. Vaguely I wondered if it was a family business and if I would be forced to do it somewhere down the road. From what I could gather not much happened here besides the occasional mishap in the forest or monster attack. Their life here seemed simple but peaceful all the same. Kind of boring but you really can't expect much of a village in the country.

I almost wished I had a boring life, in a simple boring village. It would have been a major upgrade from my past life... But I didn't have such luck, because this wasn't just any village, no no no... I was born in _Gongaga_ of all places. Unfortunately the only place I heard about that place was in the world of Final Fantasy.

It was hard deciding if that was a good or bad thing, especially since I had no idea what time I was born in. As someone who was basically obsessed with everything Final Fantasy VII, I knew things would either be pretty good or pretty bad. On one hand I could have been born before all the bad shit, or maybe I was born somewhere in the middle. Or if I was really, _really_ lucky I was born sometime after the events of the movie. The biggest problems however, is that not that much is really known about Gongaga. I knew there was a explosion with a reactor at some point, but other then that there's little known about this place. I wasn't even sure just how big the village actually was.

Of course being a baby, there wasn't anything I could really do. I wasn't old enough to wipe my own ass for... Gaia's sake? All I knew was the bare basics about my family and what they do. Even the few times I went out with my new mom around the village didn't tell me much. All I could really do, was nothing. Except wait for the next few years to go by, and hopefully get an idea of where I am in time in this world.

The next few years are gonna suck.

* * *

 **Sorry i know this chapter seems boring but it's about to pick up.**

 _ **Updated 5/3/2019**_


	3. Where We Are

**I admit I wrote this immediately after the last chapter, and saw no reason not to upload them together. Since there isn't too much known about Gongaga I am kind of throwing things out there.**

 **Rated T for language, I don't own Final Fantasy VII.**

* * *

At this point in my life, I hit the seven month mark. How did I know? My new parents had something planned for when I hit seven months. what it was I didn't know, but I don't think it was anything big. Other then the fact that I could crawl now, nothing eventful has happened at all. I still had no idea what time I was in, and I was still considered a bit of a fussy baby. I yearned for the day I could start being independent again. It seemed like such a far off dream at this point. One that would eventually come true, it was just taking a long ass time.

Currently it was early in the morning and I was being dressed for the day. Both my parents were wearing aprons and had thick pairs of gloves, the kind that you usually garden with. I think my new mom was finally going back to work part time again. One thing I did learn is that some of the plants grown here were collected and traded with other villages. Some of them were even used as the main ingredients in potions. Yes, potions. I actually thought they wouldn't really exist in this world but they do. I wonder if that means things like elixers and phoenix downs existed here too. I guess I would find out as I got older.

While my mom was dressing me, my dad was packing a diaper bag. Xander has already left for school, he probably left before I even got up. As soon as I was dressed both parents double and triple checked the diaper bag before picking me up.

"Are you sure you have everything?"my mom asked. "We don't want to leave them without enough to take care of her."

"Yes, I checked the bag. I think there's enough in this bag to last a week." my dad said. "You act like this is our first child all over again. Most become pros after the first kid you know."

"Oh hush you, there's nothing wrong with being prepared."

I toned out the rest of their conversation as they headed towards the door. If I had to guess, it sounded like I was going to a daycare or something similar. Hey that was something interesting I guess. So far my only trips outside have been to the neighbors, or to the small garden behind the house. As they walked I tried to take in more details. The village looked pretty simple, and much bigger then I thought. Several houses and streets stretched out a lot father then I could see. This place looked more like a small town then a tiny little village. We passed several houses and shops. Items, weapons, clothing, furniture, and several other things you would see back in my own world. The only difference was that some of the shops were built right into people's homes. Most of the houses we passed were small and only had one story. The shops were more obvious by having at least two stories.

As they walked I took in more and more of the surrounding around me. Many people were out working or just walking around shopping. There were few children walking around, some on their way to school it seemed. I wonder what that would be like? There were a handful of teenagers scattered here and there lazing about and enjoying the weather it seemed. It was a warm day out, I assume it's always warm here, or maybe I was born during winter and I just didn't know it. Does it snow here or is it warm year round? Judging by how most of the people here had some sort of tan I could assume it was the latter.

As fun as people watching was I could feel myself dozing off a bit as my parents walked. I lost track of how long or how far they've been walking but I assume it was at least a few blocks. Fighting to stay awake was becoming more and more of a struggle and I knew I would completely fall asleep soon. I hadn't even been awake a full two hours yet and here I was getting sleepy again.

At some point I believe they finally reached their destination as felt their steps finally stop. That was followed by knocking, and then I heard another voice talking to my parents. However I was too tired to properly pay attention to whoever my parents were passing me off to. Vaguely I remembered my mom kissing my forehead and my dad bidding me goodbye as I finally dozed off. I just hope they weren't abandoning me...

* * *

I'm assuming a few hours had passed before I next woke up to a new place. I knew this wasn't my house but it was decorated similarly. Maybe all the furniture was made the same. The only real difference I took notice of was the crib I was in. The sheets and toys in it were blue, as was most of the other things in the room. So wherever I was they had a baby boy somewhere. That baby definitely wasn't in the crib with me, I would have noticed another child in here. I didn't have much time to take in all my surroundings, mostly because they were so similar to mine at home, before I heard footsteps on the other side of the door.

A woman walked into the room and gave me a friendly smile when she saw I was awake. She looked to be no older then her late 20's, but she could have passed as younger. She had long black hair tied in a braid to her waist and blue eyes. She was wearing a simple dress shirt and a plain skirt with a half apron tied around her waist. In her hand was was a bag, I think it was my baby bag. She must be my baby sitter. Coming over to the crib she scooped me up and carried me over to what looked to be a changing table, cooing to me in that infuriating baby talk. I toned her out. She was nice don't get me wrong, but I've grown incredibly tired of hearing that baby talk. If my ears could bleed from it I'm sure they would. At least she didn't drown on like some others.

I tried not to pay attention as she changed my diaper, and ignored the taste of that disgusting mush she fed me. I wish they could make baby food taste better. I knew tit was the best I was going to get for a while, and once again dreamed for the day I could eat real food again. As soon as both embarrassing deeds were done, she picked me up again and carried me out of the room. As she walked I saw glances of photos in the hallway. Pictures of her and several other people, but the one that stood out was of a man who I could only believe to be her husband. She walked too fast for me to get a get a good look look at his picture, but since it looked like a wedding photo I think it was safe to say he was her husband.

We came out into what could only be the living room, and I immediately noticed the baby in the room. Well besides me of course.

They were playing on a large hand knit baby blanket on the floor. There were plenty of teething rings, and stuffed animals surrounding them. Currently they were playing with a stuffed chocobo and drooling all over it. I couldn't see his face because he faced away from me, but I knew this had to this lady's kid. Or maybe she was just babysitting him too. I could tell he had black hair that was sticking all over the place, and was wearing a blue onesie that had little chocobos all over it. I admit that was pretty cute. If I had a kid before I died, I'd definitely buy that for them.

The mystery lady walked over to the large blanket and gently set me down on it a few feet from the little boy. He was too focused on his current toy to notice me, and I didn't bother to make myself noticed. I had no idea how I was supposed to act in this situation. I was fine with just observing him for the time being, and did so for a few minutes. The baby finally left his current toy in search for something else, and that's when he rolled over and noticed I was also on his blanket. looked at me and I noticed he had the same blue eyes as the Mystery Lady. Maybe this was his mom after all. Up close he looked to be the same age as me, maybe give or take a couple of months. He almost looked confused to see me, like he's never seen another baby before. He probably never has.

I continued to stare at him as he stared at me, before he finally cracked a toothless smile and made a happy noise while crawling over to me. I didn't do anything as he tried to crawl towards me, I didn't know what to do. I could have been in this situation before but hell if I knew how a baby is supposed to react to certain things. The closer he got the more anxious I started to get and let out some type of noise. It must have been a bad noise because Mystery Lady sat down next to the two of us. She picked me up and pulled me into her lap away from the little boy's grabby, saliva covered hands.

As soon as I was in her lap he stopped in his advances towards me. Good, but now I had another problem. I didn't really like being held in general. I had gotten used to my new parents, but not with anyone else. I tried to struggle in her lap as much as a baby could struggle to be let go. As I struggled in her lap I started to cry which seemed to have a effect on the other baby in the room. After watching me struggle and hearing me cry he started to cry to. Expertly she rocked me in one arm to calm me down, and scooped up the little boy in her other arm. Mystery Lady rocked us both in her arms humming softly and soon enough she got us both to stop crying.

I had stopped crying sooner then he did, but he calmed down soon enough. Damn was she good. Gently she set us both down on the blanket with a smile on her face. Mystery Lady gently patted both of our heads before finally settling her gaze on the little boy.

"Oh Zack, don't worry sweetie, she's just a little scared." She said gently as he started heading towards me again."You'll be a good boy and be nice to Thorne won't you?"

That kid was really interested in me and I didn't like it. Why can't he-

Wait... did she say Zack?

* * *

 **Kind of interesting for a first meeting huh?**

 **Updated 5/3/2019**


	4. Growing Up

**This picks up immediately where we left off but I don't want to spend a whole lot of time talking about the first few years so there's going to be age gaps throughout this chapter.**

 **Also I was asked how Thorne died. We'll find out soon, maybe in the next chapter.**

 **Rated T for language, I don't own Final Fantasy VII.**

* * *

This couldn't be the Zack I thought it was could it? There's no way it was the Zack I thought it was. It was just a common name, it was back in my old world. I mean, just because he had unruly black hair and blue eyes didn't mean he was _the_ Zack I was thinking of. It could only be some type of coincidence. Yeah, I already figured that I somehow ended up in the world of Final Fantasy

Besides, I was never the type who thought babies looked like anything besides tiny humans. On the slim chance this was _th_ _e_ Zack I was thinking of, I probably wouldn't even recognize him until he was older anyway.

* * *

 _~9 months old~_

Zack Fair. It really was Zack Fair. After a couple of weeks I finally came to this realization after Mr. Fair came home. When my new father came home he called him by name I admit he was pretty cute as a baby. It's only been two months since his mom started babysitting me. She stayed at home to take care of Baby Zack while her husband worked. She also offered to watch me while my parents went to work. It took the whole first month just to get over the initial shock. Partially because _holy crap_ was he cute. Baby Zack was clingy and had his signature puppy like personality at a early age.

Whenever my parents dropped me off on their way to work they actually stayed longer just to watch Zack's reaction to seeing me. He was always smiling and happy to see me, even though I hadn't really warmed up to him yet. He reminded me of those always happy and giggling babies that would be in TV commercials. I don't know if they even have commercials like that, but if they did he would be perfect for the role.

* * *

 _~1 year old~_

I finally turned one year old. I could walk, a bit shakily and start making sounds on my own. Eventually these small sounds became small words. My parents and the occasional friend of theirs I met often commented on how what I should be doing at my age and how far ahead I seemed. Having gone through all this already, I was ready to get it all over with as soon as possible. My eagerness to get this whole growing up thing over with would turn out to be a bad thing later.

My parents threw a small party for me on my birthday. The only ones invited where Baby Zack and his parents. Plus two of Xander's friends so he wouldn't be bored. Zack was the only other child I was even slightly comfortable being around, and my parents learned that pretty quickly. Speaking of learning, Zack was only two months older then I was.

* * *

 _~2 years old~_

I could form actual words at this point. Walking and feeding myself almost came naturally to me, most likely because I had done this before. I started learning my alphabet and how to count. Not to mention nursery rhymes, which I was surprised to find they had in this world. They weren't too different from the ones I grew up with. My parents were surprised that I got the hang of everything so quickly. I knew it wasn't normal for my age, and tried to tone it down a bit before they started thinking of me as a little genius or something. At this age my parents almost expected me to be a little monster, but to their surprise I wasn't.

My life wasn't very interesting, being only two there was literally nothing I could do be sleep, eat, and play. I was a pretty quite little kid that kept to themselves. I didn't care much for the toys they showed me. It was around this time they realized I could read, they just didn't know by how much. They would try to read me bedtime stories at night, but one evening my new dad caught me with a book in my lap. It was a basic children's book about a lost baby chocobo, that had left me so distracted I didn't even know he was watching me. It was after this the kid gloves started to come off.

In the morning my parents would take me to Zack's to be watched while they worked. Zack's mother turned out to be a teacher who occasionally taught out of her home. Turns out homeschooling was a very common thing around here. The small town of Gongaga had only one school that taught for all ages. Zack and I wouldn't be attending until we turned 5. Until then his mother took care of us with teaching the basic things we should be learning at our current age level. There were three other kids that she also took care of, but I paid little attention to them. Zack was the only exception. That kid was just too darn cute.

I was sure my parents told her about how quick I was able to pick up on things. While she watched the other kids I was usually left to myself. Since I could walk fine on my own and sort of feed myself she didn't spend a whole lot of time hovering over me. The first time she caught me reading a book on my own, she started giving me a small pile to read on my own. When she realized just how aware I was of my surroundings she dropped the baby talk entirely. I don't know if she thought my independence at such a young as was good or not, but she didn't question it. I was grateful for that.

* * *

 _~3 years old~_

At this point trying to avoid being labeled as a genius or miracle baby was impossible. My new parents liked to brag at how fast I caught onto things. Since they noticed how fast I began to pick things up, they cut down on the baby talk. I still wasn't old enough to really _do_ anything, but they had me do little things. Something like bringing them something small they needed. Even when it came to the terrible expectations of potty training, I got that figured out fairly quickly. Compared to Zack and other children, I was much farther ahead. My parents had taken me to the village's head doctor for a checkup and he figured I was more on par with a six or seven year old. The only things restricting me in life were my size and stamina. Being an adult in a kids body had far too many drawbacks. Not being able to reach tall things or make my own food was a big thing. Potty training was surprisingly and thankfully, not as bad as I though it would be. I really couldn't express how happy I was to be out of diapers.

However being so far ahead mentally meant that I didn't act my age at all. I never really played or interacted with other kids, with Zack being the only exception. Once he started walking and talking himself, there was no stopping him. He really was like a puppy even as a baby. Endless amounts of energy, never showed any sign of slowing down. Keeping watch over him alone was a full time job compared to watching all of us. Mrs. Fair had her hands full with him.

Zack was a very eager and talkative toddler, well as talkative as he could be. When he wasn't playing with the other kids he would constantly be pointing at things and saying, "wha that?" at a mile a minute.

Like a puppy though, I began to think he had a sixth sense or something. Whenever the other kids played with each other he would always stop to come and check on me from time to time. Each time he would try and get me to come and play, and if I wouldn't come then he would just come and sit next to me. Usually he would look over my shoulder at the pictures in the books I read, pointing at the occasional picture and asking what it was from time to time. Sometimes I wondered if he could have secretly been a child stuck in a adult body.

Some days my new parents would take over watching the both of us at our house. On more then one occasion I caught all the adults watching us together, whispering to each other. I hope they weren't trying to plan out future together. Little Zack was cute I'll admit, but I knew there was no way I could stay away from adult Zack. And I had no intention of messing with the timeline.

* * *

 _~5 years old~_

It was at this point I came to stop thinking of my new parents as 'new' and just considered them as my parents. I didn't think I ever would come to like them, or my new brother. My family in my past life were far different from my current family now. It was like day and night. Sure my brother and I still didn't interact much but hey, mini genius or not I was only five years old. Not always that fun to be around. Most days blurred by for me. I still spent most of my days at the Fair house with a little Zack. The two of us officially started going to school with the other kids. Everything we learned was pretty standard for five year olds. After attending for a couple of months I quickly learned the basic layout of Gongaga's whole school system. Or rather I would constantly hear my parents and brother talking about such things, along with many of the teachers at the school. At our age we wouldn't be expected to do much. It wasn't until we turned ten years old that we would begin to learn the main jobs that were available in Gongaga.

First there the architects who built everything. Houses, shops, inns, bridges, wells... they were a very popular choice for boys. Next were the crafters. They were the ones who made a lot of the things people used to decorate their homes. From rugs and vases, to paintings and even some fabrics. Another very popular choice, even for my brother. From what I could tell he seemed to enjoy woodworking. Then of course there were important jobs like nursing, doctors, and scientists. There weren't oo many pursuing these jobs, only those who had a knack for it went for these jobs. When it comes to various shops and inns, they were all family owned businesses. It really was the type of village where there was only one or two of each type of shop, so not many options there. The smaller ones included the teachers at the school along with collecting, trading, and guarding. Each of those jobs were self explanatory.

Collecting and trading were the easy ones. Gongaga had a wide array of plants, animals and monsters surrounding the village. Collectors gathered them for the traders, who would either trade them for something they needed if they could not pay them with gil. Guarding consisted of protecting those who collected things in the forest from monsters. There was surprisingly very few who took on this job. For every ten to fifteen people that went collecting, only one person was guarding them. Monster attacks didn't happen too often, but they did still happen. These jobs were much more common for most of the people in the village.

However there was one main job that seemed to be just a tad more special. There was a surprisingly large array of medical plants and herbs growing around the village. They were commonly used for food or small herbal at home remedies. Even as a child is was considered the norm to begin learning which herbs were good for what, should they ever find themselves in a pinch. However when used the right way and combined with a bit of science, they could be used to actually make potions and elixirs. I never thought such things actually existed in this world, but it's just full of surprises.

Of course being only five I had yet to see them in action, but just knowing about them made it interesting. My own parents had a hand in making them. Before I thought they were simple nurses, but I later found out that my mother ran a special greenhouse to grow the plants inside the village. In case of emergencies it would save time to go to the greenhouse for fresh ones instead of going into the forest, or using old ones kept in the hospital. My father was a scientist, much more to my surprise. He actually partook in the creation of potions and elixirs. He also took the time to teach at the school from time to time. I found this out when he came to pick me up one day after school.

It seemed odd to me that we were essentially told to choose a career path at this point. Who honestly expects a ten year old to have their future career already figured out? I guess when you live in a small village where there really aren't many options, to them at least, it really was the norm. Few people left the village to find start over somewhere else. Being only five at the time and new to this world, I had no idea how anyone could just start over somewhere else. Especially in some place like Midgar. Attempting to pursue a career outside the village was considered rare here. It made me all the more curious as to how Zack had managed to leave.


	5. Nightmares and Bonding Pt1

**I'm back!** **So the next 7 chapters are pretty much done and only need a bit of editing. This chapter took me a bit to get through because I got stuck for a while. I'm happy I didn't skip this chapter though. In the meantime, how many have played the remake?**

 **Since they remake only takes places in Midgar and we aren't there yet in this story, we're not going to focus on any of that yet. Unless I can get some parts to fit into what I have planed now, parts of the remake will not be included.**

 **Enjoy** **Rated T for language, I don't own Final Fantasy VII.**

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 _Pain exploded across my stomach. I felt a jerk, then the pain reappeared in my leg this time. I wanted to move away but my limbs felt as if they were weighed down. Was I even on my back? It was hard to tell, all I could focus on was the pain. I opened my mouth to scream, and imminently it was filled with a bitter, copper taste. Hot and suffocating it filled my senses until it was all I could taste and smell. Blood, it was blood._

 _The pain in my leg lessened for a moment, before finding itself again in my thigh. A second burning pain soon joined it, in my shoulder this time. It was a knife, I realized... I was being stabbed. Trying to jerk away I actually managed to sit up for a moment, only to feel something slam me back down. The knife in my shoulder twisted harshly, while the one in my thigh was removed. It soon found itself in my stomach again only a few inches from the first wound. Blood was coating the inside of my mouth, I wanted to throw up. What was happening? Why was I here?_

 _'...deserve...' a voice quietly whispered in my ear._

 _Who was that?_

 _'...did... this...'_

 _One of the knives was yanked out harshly, before finding itself in my chest-_

 _'Your fault... if you... helped... selfish...'_

 _-slowly cutting into me. They wanted me to suffer._

 _'Everything... for you...'_

 _Couldn't breathe... why..?_

 _'It's your fault'_

 ** _"ENOUGH"_**

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A loud scream tore through my throat as I shot upright. A broken sob strangled it's way out among the frantic gasping. A pair of hands held onto me-

 _slamming me back down as they prepared to plunge another knife..._

Frantic I tried to push them away only to fail as a pair of arms, larger then the first wrapped themselves around me. I found my face pressed into a large chest as my wailing sobs grew in volume as I struggled to get free. Gentle hands started to pat my head as soothing words were whispered in my ear. Soon I found myself being, rocked? Yes rocked, as a hand found it's way to my head and slowly pat my hair. How much time passed I wasn't sure, before the sobs started to die down. Eventually they turned into quite whimpers, then sniffles.

Only after I could think straight again did I dare to open my eyes and take everything in. My dad was sitting on the edge of my bed holding me, Xander was sitting next to him and was the one patting my head. On the bed next to mine sat my mother who was quietly watching. A strained smile pulled at her lips when I looked up to her. Quietly she got up and sat on my father's other side to whisper comforting words in my ear. Everything was ok, I was ok.

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The following morning I found myself at the breakfast table. As soon as I sat down my mother set my breakfast in front of me. It was simple and light, scrambled eggs and toast with jam. I knew I didn't have an appetite but considering my current age I couldn't really skip out on eating much. I stared at the plate for a moment before picking up my fork to eat. My parents smiled at me as I slowly began to eat. I could feel their eyes watching me warily, with good reason of course. This was the fourth time this month I had woken up screaming from a nightmare. It was always the same thing, but I had no idea what it meant. I could never make out any details, nor the voices I heard whispering to me. It always left me wary and confused. Not to mentioned terrified to fall asleep. My family tried to get me to talk about my dreams, but they left me so disoriented that I couldn't explain. Or at least that's what I told them. How does a six year old explain to their parents that they keep having dreams of being held down and stabbed? Even Xander tried to get me to open up to him to no avail. He thought it might have been easier to talk to him instead of our parents, seeing as we were closer in age. I contemplated lying to him, but found myself unable to really find a good excuse. Speaking of Xander...

The twelve year old boy had heavy bags under his eyes. Living in a small house, he and I ended up sharing a room. Which usually meant he was the first to deal with me whenever I woke up screaming bloody murder. I knew that I was the reason he was so tired, and I felt terrible about it. At his age he should be focused on finishing school, and his training. Apparently the normal graduation age here was at 15, but he decided to not only focus on woodworking, but to become a hunter as well. He never went into detail but I knew he was getting worn out. My nightmares were making his burden even harder.

"Sweetheart are you done eating?" My father called out. He was watching me as I pushed the remainder of my food around on my plate. In front of him he had an empty cup of coffee and a folded newspaper resting on the table. Was I that out of it I didn't even notice him sit down?

Glancing at my plate I saw that I only ate about half the food on my plate. I knew I wouldn't be able to stomach anymore food though. "Yes papa. I'm done."

He let out a sigh as he picked up my plate and took it to the sink. I could see the troubled look in his eyes before he turned away. I hadn't eaten enough to satisfy him, but at least it was something. My mother took the plate from him before turning to address my brother.

"Xander, if you're done then take your sister to get ready for school."

"Ok mama," Xander said while letting out a huge yawn. "Com'n sis let's go."

The twelve year old took my hand as he led me took me to the single bathroom to get ready. Despite how tired he was, he watched me closely as I washed my face and brushed my teeth. As soon as I was done he helped me pick out a simple outfit, a short sleeved burnt orange shirt with black pants and shoes. He and my parents knew that I hated wearing skirts and dresses already, despite what everyone else in the village thought. While I got dressed on my side of our shared room he quickly ran to the bathroom to freshen himself up before coming back to get dressed. After making sure I looked decent (besides being dressed like a boy that is), he quickly came and tried to tame my very curly hair. Another thing I was happy to have. Just as he finished taming the beast into a ponytail, our mother called us down to go to school. Taking my hand again he led me into the kitchen where both our parents stood. Both were dressed for work and held out our school bags. Xander and I quickly hugged our parents goodbye as we took our bags and rushed out the door. The school was maybe only a ten minute walk from our house, but we had to go through the small shopping center of the village. As we walked he didn't let go of my hand once, not even when his friends showed up to walk with us.

I had to say, having a brother now was strange. In my past life, I was an only child. My first few years here were very similar as Xander barely interacted with me. I'm not sure when the big brother switch flipped, but for the past year since I turned six he's been paying more attention to me. Maybe he hit puberty and the overprotective big brother gene kicked in? He started to pick up on things our parents didn't. He knew that was "smarter" then I was letting on and was bored in school most of the time. He knew that other kids didn't talk to me much, and the only real friend I had was Zack. Lately he's gotten surprisingly well at reading me and knowing when something bothers me. He was smart and observant, easily able to pick up on subtle hints and clues. It seems the whole genius thing ran in the family. I couldn't tell if the way he acted was normal sibling behavior or not, since I had nothing to compare it to.

A mass of spiky black hair and energy crashed into me forcing me out of my current train of thought. Huh, we were in front of the school already. I should really pay more attention. Xander had finally let go of my hand as the bundle of energy known as Zack Fair barreled into me. Immediately he started rambling in my ear about everything that's happened since we last saw each other. What he ate for dinner last night, everything his parents said, the story he read before bed, every person he talked to on the way here... Gods did he eat a bowl of sugar for breakfast? We just saw each other yesterday. I didn't even got a word in before the teachers started to call everyone inside to begin class.

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 _Sorry for the long wait but I had the next 7 chapters pretty much done at this point. I needed to put something out so I can move things along. I really wanted some sibling bonding in this chapter. Part 2 coming soon_

 _04-26-2020_


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